Reality Check
by lightning027
Summary: Light Specter has roamed the Ghost Zone alone for 10 years after being created in a lab. She's never known the human world and doesn't want to. But what happens when a halfa's injuries makes her face the world she's all but forgotten? DannyxSam, DannyxOC themes
1. 1: Back to the Start

(A/N: This fic is part of a little writing challenge I'm doing for myself: take the oldest story you can handle, and try to rewrite it. This particular work, originally called Lightning in Her Eyes, was originally published in 2011, when I was 13. I'm 17 now, and I'm hoping that my writing style has improved a lot. I especially wanted to work with voice in this fic, since it's written in first person. You can check out the old work on my profile page if you'd like to compare

So here it is: rewritten Danny Phantom au, after Phantom Planet, where the au is that Danny only told his parents about his powers, and not the whole world.)

Chapter 1: Back to the Start

There's a certain calmness about floating, and I'm not just talking about the weightless feeling. I mean, yeah, the weightless feeling is pretty nice, but that itself isn't the best part. The best part is the free feeling in your gut. When I was first learning how to float (and later on fly), that's how they taught me, the scientists. Well, not really all of them. It was mainly Dr. Grey.

"Are you ready, -?" she asked. She had flaming red hair that she always curled back in a neat bun, and she wore, on this day in particular, a bright green lab coat. I always liked her lab coats, in pretty colors. She was the only one who knew how to keep a kid interested.

Oh, and about those dashes. That's where my name would go, if I remembered it. See, once Dr. Grey got sick and had to leave (I can't for the life of me remember how that happened either, and that really pisses me off) none of the scientists used my name anymore, so I just forgot. Whatever, I got to choose my own name now, so I guess it doesn't really matter that much.

Anyway, learning to fly. So I was with Dr. Grey, and she had on her green lab coat, and I know there must have been other scientists in the room, monitoring things and assisting her, but all I really remember is Dr. Grey and her kind eyes.

"So, if you want to fly, first you have to think of yourself being free," she said.

"Like in Peter Pan, when Tinkerbell put the pixie dust on Wendy and John and Michael?" I asked. I was four, by the way. Peter Pan was one of my favorite movies.

"Yes, dear, like Wendy. Do you think you can fly like Wendy?" Dr. Grey asked.

"Yeah!" I yelled, jumping up and down really fast. I remember that scared the other scientists, when I did stuff like that. They had these metal shields that they always held in front of themselves when I scared them. Wimps.

So I remember trying like at least ten times to try to fly, thinking of the happiest thing I could think of, but I couldn't fly. I even tried jumping off one of the lab tables, which scared the other scientists, but only seemed to amuse Dr. Grey. I remember after that I started crying and Dr. Grey came over and hugged me.

"Why can't I do it? Why can't I fly? I'm thinking of all the happy things I can think of!" I cried, in between sobs. Dr. Grey patted my head.

"But are you thinking about being free? That's what I told you, dear," she said.

"What does that feel like?" I asked. And that moment I remember very clearly, because Dr. Grey's smile wasn't there anymore. I think that's the only time I saw her when she wasn't smiling.

I now realize that she lost her smile because, well, I wasn't free. I was a test tube baby, made for one purpose – experimentation and the advancement of the human race. Or something like that. I can't remember much of what happened before they changed me. They turned me into what they called a "halfa" half kid, half ghost. Yeah, that's right, half ghost. They half-killed me. When I was two.

For the next four years, they ran tests. The tests weren't so bad, at least when I was with Dr. Grey. Soon after the flying incident, she left. I still don't know why, hard as I try to remember. After she left, my life was a living hell. I was forced into my ghost form more and more often. They ran tests on how to prevent me from returning to my human form. They injected me with different things, drew blood. Mostly they tried to kill me when I was a ghost. I kinda blocked most of those out, not like I wanted to, but I'm pretty sure from all the times I passed out I have some sort of permanent brain damage. The only thing I know is that they tried to kill me, and that was my last straw.

I knew I had to escape the place, so I managed to get out. Not the way most people would, probably. I flung myself into the Ghost Zone when they weren't looking. And that's where I am, ten years later, still just floating along. I finally really know what that free feeling means. And that's the best thing about flying.

So, I was floating along in the Ghost Zone. After all the time I've spent here, it's my home, more than that crumby lab ever was. There may be some nasty ghosts, but mostly they're just misunderstood or confused. In that way I guess I fit in. I'm probably more ghost than human nowadays anyway, since I can't remember the last time I was in human form. Mostly I try to keep my home as homey as possible. I make friends, stop fights, break a few ghosts out of jail, maybe throw away the real world stuff that's started to really pollute the place. Speaking of that, a can just floated past my foot. I frowned and grabbed it, and waited a few seconds. A portal appeared behind me and I chucked the can over my shoulder. It was easy, once you got the feel for portals, to tell when one was gonna open nearby.

So I threw the can out. It wasn't all that interesting anyway. If it had been something cool, I probably would've put it in my bag. But that's another explanation for another time, because right after I threw that can out, there was a huge roar from somewhere to my right. I took off towards it as fast as I could, and once I rounded a cloud of doors, I saw it.

It looked like Stubby just acting up again. He was this huge black lizard thing that I called Stubby because he was missing a tail. Kinda irritable, but for the most part he just went about his business unless someone bothered him. I scrunched my eyebrows together. Now, I didn't see another ghost. So what had frightened the poor thing?

"Man, you're one ugly lizard," a shrill voice yelled. He sounded like a guy, but a little young. Not like any voice I had heard before, except maybe Poindexter, but I've never seen him leave that school.

Stubby swung a claw, and the ghost boy flew into sight, easily dodging the attack.

"Mean too!" he yelled. He shot a barrage of energy blasts at the beast, a few missed, but most of them hit Stubby spot on, who yelled in pain. I decided I had seen enough. I would have to break this up.

As I flew towards the fight, the ghost boy seemed to get distracted, or _something_ happened, I wasn't really paying too close attention, since I was more worried about just how injured Stubby looked (there was already a gaping hole in his shoulder), but by the time I'd gotten there, Stubby had whacked the guy pretty good with his huge taloned paw. He flew a yard onto a floating hunk of rock, right as Stubby was honing in for the final blow.

"Get outta here ya big lug!" I yelled, shooting some energy blasts near his feet. He screeched in response and moved away, but didn't leave. This kid has really pissed him off. Rightfully so, but I didn't want anybody getting more hurt than they were already.

"Go on! Leave!" I yelled again, shooting another blast in his general direction. The ghost lizard finally relented and slunk of to his usual hiding place.

Now I had to deal with that damn ghost kid. I turned to face the rock, but instead of the kid with white hair and a black jumpsuit, I saw a kid – a _human_ kid – with black hair and jeans. As I studied him closer, I noticed that it was, it had to be, the same kid. I landed next to him on the rock and turned his head from side to side, gripping his chin, and yep, that was definitely the same face shape and hairstyle.

Did this mean he was a halfa like me? I mean, I had heard about the other halfa, mostly from the Box Ghost, who sometimes followed me around, annoying me, for days on end, just rambling about boxes and humans and apparently some nasty half-human, half-ghost teenager that likes cylindrical containers better. But I had heard he was a great fighter, some ghosts had even said he was nice for a human. The kid that I was looking at certainly wasn't very nice in my eyes.

Either way, he was hurt so bad he had phased back into human form. I couldn't remember the last time I had been hit that hard. Well, either way, I prided myself on being for the beings (since, you know, not all ghosts were people), so I had to help him, no matter how shitty of a fighter or nasty of a person he was.

There was a portal that was about to open about a hundred yards away, I could tell, so I figured the best course of action would be to take him back to his world and leave him there. Ghost stuff in the Ghost Zone and human stuff in the human world, right? So I had my plan. I picked him up bridal style, one hand under his knees and another around his shoulders, and lifted him quite easily. I was surprised at how light he was, and just how quick I got to the other portal. I had just floated through the portal and gotten my tail out (you know, ghostly tail, I'm not like Wulf), and the dumb thing closed right behind me! Now here I was, in the human world, sunny as all hell, or at least I assumed it was since I couldn't fucking see (how did ghosts go out here? Why? It was hell!) and an unconscious halfa at my feet. Great.


	2. 2: The Scientist

Chapter 2: The Scientist

Well, considering how hostile he seemed towards ghosts, I decided it would be the best for me to phase into human form. It was hard. When I first started phasing into my ghost form, it was never this hard. That came in accidents – going intangible once or twice, walking around invisible without even noticing, stuff like that. But this time, when I tried to turn human after I don't know how many years of being a ghost, it was hard.

The glowing band would appear around my center of gravity, and then before I could do anything, it would pop, almost like a bubble, and disappear. Eventually, after like eight tries, it did work. The bands separated and moved from my center to my feet and the top of my head, transforming my jumpsuit and black hair, so that my hair was once again its dirty blonde. My clothes were ragged – the shirt was way too tight (thank god I had a huge bomber jacket in my bag, I didn't have a bra. I guess that's what I get for not changing clothes since I was eight) and the pants looked like capris and cut off all circulation in my feet. Oh, and I didn't have shoes.

Before I had time to look in my bag for any shoes I had found floating through the Zone, the boy on the ground began to stir. Shit! I had forgotten about him. I looked him over again, and noticed that there was a large gash on his arm – the side that I had been facing away from. I yanked my first aid kit out of the bag – it was always on top since I used it often – and began to bandage his wound.

When I touched him, and I was a human and he was a human, I almost jolted so hard I fell down. He was so warm! Being a ghost, you can touch and hold things, of course, but being ghosts, we don't have much of a sense of temperature. That's why you don't see us shivering all the damn time; we can't feel it.

Having not felt anything warm for some time now, not even a nice ghostly cup of coffee, you can kinda understand why I was so surprised. But I couldn't leave his wound open, infections were a thing and his cut was kinda deep. So I took a deep breath and touched him again. Warm, and soft. I could feel my human heartrate speed up. God, were all humans this easily excited? This would be tough.

Once I finished bandaging him, I ripped the gauze, tied it, and all but ripped myself away from the warmth. Things like that, when you don't feel them for a decade, can be intoxicating.

As I was trying to calm my breathing, the boy stirred again. His eyelashes fluttered, and within seconds he was awake, and clutching his forehead.

"Ugh, what happened?" He grumbled, blinking. He caught a glimpse of my feet, eyes traveled up, and our gazes met. His eyes were a really stunning blue. They almost didn't look real. I wondered for a moment if humans had finally invented some permanent eye dye or something, because that couldn't be his real eye color.

"Who are you?" he asked, ripping me out of my wandering thoughts.

"Oh, uh, sorry, I'm…" oh shit, what do humans name themselves? "I'm the one who found you here. I saw that you were hurt, so I patched you up."

The boy searched for his injury, and eventually found the bandage on his lower arm.

"So you just found me lying here?"

"Yeah, pretty much," I replied.

"Thank you," he said. He looked pretty surprised that someone he had never met would help him. He was looking at me with those big blue eyes, all innocent and shit. Made me uncomfortable.

"It's no problem really. I'm glad you're OK," I said. I turned to go. There was really no need for me to stay with him anymore. He was in the human world, he was conscious, I was gone.

"Hey, wait!" I turned and he attempted to stand, but almost came tumbling back down again. Like a flash, I caught him. I really wish I hadn't because of the stupid warmth, and I could feel his heartbeat this time too.

I slowly let go of him, and he wobbled a bit, but in the end, he could stand. He nodded his thanks and smiled a bit before offering me his hand. I didn't take it, and it ended up on the back of his own neck.

"I'm Danny, Danny Fenton. And if it's alright with you, I'd like to take you to dinner."

Now, I may have been cooped up in the ghost zone for the entirety of my developmental life, but I could still tell when someone was hitting on me. I frowned.

"No thanks. I really have to be on my way."

"Please! My family might not make the best food, but it's the least I could do," he was giving me a puppy-dog look, half-pleading, half-concern. I then realized what he was really getting at – my clothes, my lack of shoes – he probably thought I was homeless. I mean, he was sort of right, it's not like I had my own room in the Zone or anything, but I wasn't some vagrant who couldn't feed themselves. I contemplated the offer, but in the end, I decided to accept. Why not go on an adventure? The Ghost Zone could function without me for a couple of hours.

"That's great! Oh, I'm sorry, I don't know your name," he said. Right. Names. I had to act quickly. His name was Danny Fenton, so something with an E sound at the end maybe. I had already taken too long to answer, so I just blurted something out.

"Natalie Knight," I said. "My name's Natalie Knight."

"Nice to meet you, Natalie," he said. We stood there, just kinda looking at each other, for what seemed like a little too long to be normal. Or at least long enough to make me uncomfortable.

"Oh, uh, I live this way," Danny said, gesturing to the left with his hand. I tried to smile a bit, but it probably came off as forced. We set off. Danny shoved his hands in his pockets, and I did the same, except I put mine in my coat pockets because if I used my pants they would probably rip off my body, if I was being completely honest.

We rounded a corner and started walking down the block. We were in a city. Actually, I don't think I'd ever been outside in the human world. I was kinda amazed, but unfortunately I had to pay attention to conversation so I didn't look like a complete nut until I was able to find a way back to the Zone. So yeah, after we started walking down the block, Danny started talking again.

"I apologize in advance for any weird crap my family does, says, or tries to shoot you with," Danny said, scratching the back of his neck and looking a little sheepish. I raised an eyebrow and frowned.

"Shoot me?" I parroted. I don't think anyone would wanna eat somewhere where they had a chance of being shot.

"Yeah, uh, they're scientists and-"

"Scientists!?" I all but yelled. I stopped in my tracks. I wouldn't go anywhere near scientists, no way, no fucking way. How had this kid lived with that? Had they brainwashed him? Was he even really their son? I started breathing fast and shallow, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Natalie? It's ok, really, they're nice people! They're just goofballs!" Danny said, trying to comfort me. He put his hands on my shoulders, but I shrugged them off, backing away.

"They're not even scientists, technically. They're more ghost hunters, but who wants to tell people their parents hunt ghosts, right?" Danny chuckled a little. He was trying to lighten the mood, I knew, somewhere in the back of my mind where common sense was still awake and listening. But right now, I only heard ghost hunters coupled with scientists and I all but broke down. I had to get out.

I started backing away from Danny slowly, who was saying something like "It'll be ok, Natalie, really," but I didn't hear him, I just turned and started sprinting. I didn't know where I was going or if Danny was following me. I just knew I needed to run, fast.

In retrospect, I was acting pretty irrational. If Danny could deal with ghost hunting scientist parents and not be dead, they must not be like the scientists I knew. They could've been like Dr. Grey. But I must have been having some kind of breakdown back then. I mean I ran and ran and ran until I exhausted my puny human body and collapsed.

I was lying on the ground next to a row of townhouses, probably about to pass out, when Danny found me. I was too physically exhausted to even be scared anymore. I think maybe the running had cleared my head, helped me think. Or maybe the exhaustion clouded my thoughts. I don't know. All I know is that by this time, I was actually listening to Danny.

"Holy crap," he huffed, leaning on a lamppost, all slumped over and sweating. "You really don't like scientists."

Well, he got the gist of it. That's all he really needed to know.

"If you don't want to eat with me, you don't have to. But you know the only reason I offered the food was because you look like you need it. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're homeless, right?"

I nodded. It was the only thing I could manage, and even that hurt my head. I was dehydrated.

"Yeah. So, I figured a meal was a good payment for being so nice to me, even when you don't have anything for yourself. I don't know why you're so afraid of scientists, but I can tell you that my parents aren't mean. They're some of the kindest people I know, even though my dad is a bit of a goof, and they're a little ghost obsessed… but they're good people, even if they are a little clueless."

Clueless. Clueless about what? Ghosts? They wouldn't know a ghost if it looked them in the eye and ate their casserole? I managed to hoist myself up so my weight rested on my elbows.

"Clueless?" I choked out. It sounded like I was speaking through a layer of honey, I wasn't sure if I was slurring my words or if I was just gonna pass out. Either way, Danny seemed to understand just fine.

"Yeah. They wouldn't know a ghost if it hit them in the face," Danny smiled and chuckled. I breathed a sigh of relief. So they wouldn't know then. Or at least there was a chance. I was only using this place as a stop for food, anyway. And I desperately needed it, between my throbbing head and my stomach, which felt like it was _this_ close to collapsing in on itself.

"I need water," I said, clearer this time. Danny's eyes widened and he looked around, as if a water bottle would just appear out of thin air. When he realized he didn't have any on him, he gave me a very serious look.

"I have water at my house. Do you want me to go get some and come back?" he asked. Wow, he was willing to do that for me so I wouldn't have to face his parents? That was pretty kind. I shook my head anyway.

"No, I'll stay with you for dinner. I'm sorry for the scare," I said. I tried to stand up, slowly so I wouldn't pass out, but Danny mistook my carefulness for a struggle, and he helped me up. I nodded thanks and then pushed him away. I could walk by myself. Danny seemed nervous as I stood, as if he was waiting for me to collapse at any given moment.

"Is that really what you want?" Danny asked. I was getting annoyed at him. There are some people that are just too nice.

"Just get me to the food," I said. Danny looked around again, figuring out exactly where we had ended up. Then he laughed, so hard that he started coughing, in fact. My eyes widened at the coughing fit, but within a moment, he was back to normal.

"My house is right there," he pointed. I searched down the row for any townhouses with distinguishing marks, and couldn't find any, but before I could ask Danny "where?" I looked up, and I saw the house with the huge mechanical contraption on top that said "FENTON" in bright neon. My mouth dropped open and my eyebrow raised.

"Are you serious," I deadpanned. Danny just laughed and started walking towards the house. I followed, taking care to not fall or anything. Walking was such a chore, it was so easy to trip and fall or run into something. How did humans even stand it?

By the time I knocked myself out of the reverie, we had arrived at the house, and Danny was standing at the top of the stairs. He motioned for me to join him there, and once I did (I almost tripped and fell on my face, seriously fuck steps) he opened the door, and was immediately covered in ectoplasm.


End file.
